Simple Things
by Izzy Samson
Summary: A day in the life of Mellark family. Post- Mockingjay. 5th place submission for the THG Writing Challenge. "Never had she pictured a life like this for herself, or that such joys could come from the most simple of things."


**Hi everyone! This is my fifth place submission for The Hunger Games Writing Challenege.**

**I would like to thank my betas kimet4891 and Court81981 for helping me with my submissions. **

**Prompt 140**

**Simple Things**

_Today is a good day. _Katniss smiles to herself as she watches her husband and children work in their garden on this sunny, early summer morning. She inhales the now familiar scents of clean air and freshly churned soil. Peeta and their son are watering the plants while their independent daughter tends to _her_ sunflowers.

Her children are still so innocent, and she often wonders how she and her husband would tell them about their past: the beloved family members who died long ago, the Games and how terrible the world used to be. They have the memory book, but that won't explain everything. Thoughts such as these cause her much distress, so instead she focuses on the good in her life.

When she was a child, her father had told her to always cherish the simple joys in life. When she returned to District 12 many years ago, Dr. Aurelius had told her something to the same effect. Little things like fresh cheese buns in the kitchen, Peeta teaching their children how to draw, the scent of primroses in bloom, how secure she feels in her husband's strong arms at night are often enough to stave off depression, and are usually enough to make her get out of bed on her even on her worst days. Although she hates to admit that she still has days so bad that she can't summon the strength to overcome her intense sorrow and crawl out of bed. But those days are few and far between as long as she sticks to her routine and remembers the good things in her life. _My children are playing in the garden that Peeta and I built, and they will never know hunger or want._

It has been more than twenty years since she had volunteered for her sister and Peeta had been reaped for the Hunger Games. A year after the rebellion, she and Peeta decided to start a garden; they agreed that it would be a useful endeavor. They also wanted something to occupy their time, as there were fewer new entries to be added to the memory book and they needed something to concentrate on. The trains were sometimes slow to deliver rations, and fresh produce was hardly ever included. But there was more to the garden then practical reasons. It was a middle ground for them, and it was a place that was comfortable for the two.

Peeta was too loud to go hunting with her; every time he'd joined her they'd returned all but empty handed. And Katniss was a disaster in the kitchen; once she had ruined an entire batch of cookies because she couldn't tell the difference between salt and sugar, they were so awful that even Haymitch's geese were reluctant to eat them.

It was strange how a little plot of ground could bring them such peace. The garden was a place that they could come together on equal footing, seeing as neither one of them had ever done it before. Katniss enjoyed the physical work, transforming her useless oversized yard in the Victor's Village into something that provided nourishment, not just for their bodies, but also for their sprits. It was very therapeutic; they turned and tilled the sod with their bare hands and painstakingly planted the seeds in meticulously made rows. They created something out of nothing. She and Peeta grew closer here as their plants rose from the ground and bore fruit.

Both Haymitch and his geese had a bad habit of wandering through the garden. The geese came to eat, and their owner stumbled through it because he was too drunk realize where he was. Peeta had soon remedied the situation by putting up a fence. Katniss still smiles at the recollection of how their inebriated mentor stumbled into the fence one drunken night and cursed them for a week because he had spilled the contents of his flask and another shipment of white liquor wasn't expected for days.

Katniss always enjoyed their time together in the garden. Peeta would often shed his shirt while working, and she would sit back and admire him in the broad daylight in a way that she could not do in their bedroom in the dark. They would find ways to stay close to one another; their hands would touch while they picked tomatoes, and he would carry the basket as she picked root vegetables. They shared many playful moments while they worked. Peeta had a terrible habit of being clumsy with the hose, especially when his wife wore a snug fitting t-shirt and then would apologize insincerely while his eyes wandered down to her chest. More than once, accidental splashes of water turned into full-fledged water fights. A handful of times they wound up wrestling in the mud, which was always an exciting event because they would end up together in the shower at the conclusion—in a totally different type of embrace.

Every year they became more knowledgeable, better gardeners; their plot expanded, along with their meal options. Foods that they had only ever heard of and eaten on the Victory Tour were now in their garden: eggplant, asparagus, and sweet corn, along with various types of beans, squashes, and pumpkins. Peeta was able to create the most delicious dishes that she'd ever eaten with just the bounty of their garden and the game from the forest. They spent hours canning, pickling, freezing, and drying their produce so that they could enjoy it year round. Their full pantry was an indicator of how much life had changed in the district and around the country, an affirmation that the times of extreme hardship were over.

It was in this garden that Katniss finally opened her heart to the possibility of starting a family. Peeta had tried to convince her for five, ten, fifteen years. One day while they worked, she watched her husband; she loved him so much and she couldn't deny him anymore. She imagined a miniature version of Peeta running bare-footed in the yard, following his daddy like a shadow, laughing and playing. For the first time when she was able to picture their children, the feeling of hope was greater than that of fear. That night she told her husband that she was ready to start a family. Peeta was overjoyed, as if he'd just been given the greatest gift ever.

They were lucky and were able to conceive almost immediately, but Katniss was constantly plagued by her old fears once the baby began to kick within her womb. All fall and winter long, Katniss wondered almost every day why she agreed to it. But all of her fears were dashed when she finally held their daughter in her arms. She then found a whole new list of good things to enjoy and to be thankful for.

The spring their daughter arrived, they sat the newborn in the shade of their plum tree as they prepared the soil for another year. By the following spring, she was toddling through the rows and was _helping_ her parents. The spring after that, they had given her some strawberries that were "hers" to tend. Haymitch would sip iced tea and supervise from the shade of the porch or would keep the little one busy while her parents worked.

It was then that Peeta suggested that they try to have another child as they watched their daughter take her little responsibilities seriously. He mentioned that she would make an excellent big sister, just like her mother had been. The thought made Katniss pause; she didn't know how to feel about his comment. The memory of her sister was always bittersweet, but in the end the love that she and Prim shared was more present in her mind than the pain the her loss had caused.

Katniss agreed to start trying for another baby; the next pregnancy did not come as quickly as the first, but by the next spring Katniss was gardening with a distended belly and swollen feet. With the birth of their son, she knew that their family was complete, and her heart was full, bursting with joy.

Now here, two years later, the vision that Katniss had imagined of Peeta and his son just a few years before had come true. She watches Peeta and their son drinking from the hose. It was normal everyday sorts of thing like this that affected Katniss the most. Never had she pictured a life like this for herself, or that such joys could come from the most simple of things.

_Yes, today is a very good day._

**I hope you enjoyed this one shot. You can also find me on tumblr as izzy samson.**


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